GAME AUDIO - Introduction to Audio API's, and Comparison between Xact, FMOD, Wwise, And Unreal


FMOD vs Wwise has become like Coke vs. Pepsi - both are cool, refreshing and sure to fill most of your game audio middleware needs. As of 2014, FMOD is now completely free for devs, as long as your budget is under 100k. FMOD is the oldest tool of them all and used in the most titles. Next up we have Wwise (Wave Works Interactive Sound Engine) which is also free. For Wwise, devs must use less than 200 sound files and also be using Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, iOS, Android or Windows Phone 8.

Both have actually been free to use in the past, but required license fees to publish the game. These tools have both come a long way and lead the pack in game audio middleware Using Xact is like shaving with a tree branch, but Unreal is now compatable with both FMOD and Wwise, and just became free. my While these tools are the most popular 3rd party solution for game audio implementation, many studios have custom tools that audio programmers build from scratch.